Copyright & Theses

Copyright law provides protection for creators of certain forms of media against the unauthorised use of their material. In Australia the use of copyright material in such things as books, journals, computer programs, photographs, music, films or websites is governed by the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). When researching and writing your thesis you will more than likely use other people's copyright material in your own work. This means you should treat the process of copyright management in your thesis as part of the process of writing your thesis. This will ensure that when you are ready to submit your thesis and make it publicly available, you can be confident that your thesis complies with copyright law.

This toolkit developed by the Copyright Office provides useful information on copyright management in your thesis:

		Making your thesis publicly available online (PDF)
		Have I permission to use someone else's material in my thesis? (PDF)
		Sample permission letter (Word DOC)
		Sample copyright material log (Word DOC)
		Copyright checklist for theses (PDF)
		Copyright and licences (PDF)

You can also download all the above publications as a toolkit (PDF). There is also information about theses and submission available from the library website.

For further information contact the Copyright Office.